


Warlord's Return

by WarlordFelwinter



Series: Destiny / OC-centric [8]
Category: Destiny (Video Game), Destiny 2 - Fandom
Genre: Spoilers for Destiny 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-09 00:10:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12876027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarlordFelwinter/pseuds/WarlordFelwinter
Summary: Ammit-4 uses an unusual method to boost morale





	1. Chapter 1

“We need to hurry.”

The Warlock didn’t react, her head tilting this way and that. Medjay frowned, frustrated. It was dangerous out here, as Ammit well knew. She had nearly died not three hours ago.

Ammit turned and headed into denser foliage. Medjay followed, gun out and ready.

“Just walk off, it’s fine. We’re just two Lightless guardians alone in hostile territory.”

“I can hear you.”

“I’m aware.”

“So can everything else,” Ammit said, holding up a hand. There was a wall of low-hanging evergreen boughs in front of them, but beyond them, Medjay could hear a quiet voice. She was unable to make out words, but the cadence was english. Ammit pushed through the branches.

“Stop!”

Medjay peered around her and saw a Titan, standing in front of a small group of people, pointing a rifle at Ammit. He wore mismatched, ragged, armor and the gun he had looked old and worn. Probably something he had found in the wild.

“Peace, Titan,” Ammit said. “We are guardians.”

He lowered the gun slowly. “Sorry…”

“Better safe,” Ammit said. Medjay stepped forward and looked at the refugees behind him. Five adults, six children. All looked terrified and hungry.

“Where are you headed?” Ammit asked.

“Away from the City…” the Titan said uncertainly. Medjay wondered how old he was. How long he had been alive before losing his Light?

“Come with us,” Ammit said. “We are heading to Felwinter Peak. A long walk, but you will be safe there.”

One of the children looked excited. She tugged lightly on the Titan’s torn mark.

“Let’s go!” she said when he looked down. “The Iron Lords will protect us.”

“How far…?” the Titan asked.

“Far,” Medjay said flatly.

The child looked disappointed and Ammit shook her head. “It is far, but that’s no trouble for brave guardians like you, eh?” she asked.

“We’re not guardians,” another child said. “We don’t have Light, like you.”

“You look like guardians to me!” Ammit said, hands on her hips. “But perhaps you all look the same to an Iron Lord…” Her voice was sly and Medjay wondered what she was up to. They were wasting daylight.

The first girl who had spoken looked at Ammit, eyes wide. “You’re an Iron Lord?”

“Of course!” Ammit said, smacking the wolf emblem on the breast of her robes. “And I will keep you safe until we reach the mountain.”

“You don’t have Light anymore,” one of the adults said, looking around nervously.

“Maybe. But that does not matter,” Ammit said, waving a hand in an exaggerated dismissive. “I have been alive for centuries upon centuries and never met an enemy I couldn’t face. Not even the Warlords of old could take me! Light or no.”

The talkative girl stepped forward slightly. “What’s your name? Are you Lady Efrideet?”

Another girl smacked her arm lightly. “Lady Efrideet’s a Hunter, silly!” she whispered.

“Well she’s not Lord Saladin!” the girl replied.

Ammit crouched. “You’re very knowledgeable about us, are you not?” she asked the first girl. She held up an arm. “Do you recognize this seal?”

The girl took her arm gently, looking at the bracer. She shook her head.

“Ah, well. I’ll just tell you then, eh? My name is Felwinter.”

Medjay looked at her sharply. What in the Traveler’s name was she playing at?

“Wow!” the girl exclaimed, looking delighted. The second girl looked skeptical.

“ _Lord_  Felwinter is dead,” she said, stressing the honorific pointedly.

“I see your point,” Ammit said. She took her helmet off. “But I’m an exo, aren’t I? We can change ourselves like that–” she snapped her fingers. “Perhaps I’m Lady Felwinter now, or perhaps it doesn’t matter, eh? And death is for the enemy, little one.”

The first girl looked utterly delighted. She looked at one of the women. “Mum, can we go?”

The woman looked at Ammit. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” Ammit said, standing. “It is our duty to protect you.”

“We’ll come with you,” the Titan said. “Felwinter Peak sounds like our best bet.”

Ammit nodded. “Come then. As long as you’re not too tired, we can still make some distance by nightfall.” She headed into the trees, going back to the trail Medjay had been leading her down. The Titan fell to guard the rear of the group. Medjay caught up to Ammit.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

“What do you mean?” she asked, helmet forming up around her head so they could speak privately.

“Are you having fun? Disrespecting Lord Felwinter’s memory?”

Ammit shook her head. “It is not disrespecting,” she said.

“How do you figure? Playing like you’re an Iron Lord.”

“Firstly, I am an Iron Lord,” Ammit said. “I don’t wear this regalia just for show. I earned it fighting SIVA in the last crisis. Ask Lord Saladin, if you must. And I am not pretending for my own sake. It’s for them. The children. Did you see the way their eyes lit up when they heard ‘Felwinter Peak’, eh? They know the legends. The glory and heroism of the Lords of Iron.”

“Even so, you could have just been yourself, couldn’t you?” Medjay asked.

“Lady Ammit, yes? No one has heard of me, as you just proved. But Lord Felwinter! Everyone has heard of him. Everyone knows his strength. The Warlord who held a whole mountain to himself for centuries. Who better to guide scared refugees through the wilds than a figure of legend?” Ammit gestured for her to lead the way through the trees. Medjay fell into a familiar path.

“I hear the pragmatism in your voice,” Ammit continued. “You are practical. You must be, in the wilds. But sometimes stories can be useful. If wearing Felwinter’s mantle helps these children feel brave and strong, then it is what I will do, and trust that Felwinter would understand.”

Medjay didn’t reply, not sure what to think of the Warlock. She turned, hearing a muffled yelp, to see the talkative girl had tripped. Ammit helped her to her feet and then lifted her up onto her shoulders.

“What’s your name, young wolf?” Ammit asked.

“Jamie,” the girl said.

“We have a long way to go, Jamie, do you know what would pass the time?”

“What?”

“Stories! Do you know any stories?”

“I know lots of stories,” she said excitedly.

“Excellent! Why don’t you tell me one, eh?”

 


	2. Chapter 2

They had picked up more refugees. Now ten adults, along with two more guardians–a pair of Hunters. The refugees had come with more children, who Ammit soon won over with her Felwinter performance. It still rubbed Medjay the wrong way, but it seemed to accomplish what Ammit was aiming for. The children were all in high spirits as they headed up into the mountains.

Medjay hung back as they followed the gondola lines. Ammit knew where she was going by this point. She was up ahead, with Jamie on her shoulders again. She had given her robe to one of the women who didn’t have a coat, but didn’t seem bothered by the cold, and was telling some story of a battle, making dramatic gestures with a flaming sword.

When they came to the gap, Ammit and the exo Hunter carried the civilians over, as they were the only ones strong enough to leap the gap with the weight of a human on their back. Medjay desperately missed her Light when it was her turn to leap, but she made it across without needing help.

Once in sight of the observatory, Medjay tried her radio again. She had been casting out the entire time, but communications had been spotty since the attack.

After a burst of static in her ear, she heard Shiro-4’s voice.

_“Medjay, is that you?”_

“Yes. I’ve brought company. A few Lightless guardians and a group of City refugees.”

_“Lady Efrideet brought back another group. They’ve set up in the observatory.”_

“I’ll send these ones that way.”

_“Report to the Temple afterward with your guardians.”_

“Yes, sir.”

Lady Efrideet met them at the gondola station and the children had a similar reaction to her as they had to Ammit, and she just as enthusiastically humored them.

“Lady Efrideet,” Jamie said from Ammit’s shoulders, “Lord Felwinter says you once threw Lord Saladin at a Fallen walker, is that true?”

To Efrideet’s credit, and Medjay’s surprise, she didn’t miss a beat. “Of course it’s true! Threw him right off a cliff, straight down on top of it! Don’t bring it up around ol’ Saladin, though, he hates that story!”

The children all laughed.

Efrideet looked at the group. “Civilians, come with me, I’ll get you settled. Guardians, to the Temple, please. You’ll get to rest soon I promise.”

Ammit took Jamie from her shoulders. “Go with Efrideet. If you ask nicely she’ll introduce you to the wolves.”

The group went off after Efrideet toward the observatory and Ammit led the way across the bridge. As soon as they were across, Medjay watched her shoulders drop with exhaustion and realized just how much of an act she had been putting on.

They entered the Temple, where Shiro, Saladin, and a few other tired looking guardians were waiting. Ammit went straight past all of them, to the foot of Felwinter’s statue, giving a respectful bow and placing some flowers she had found in the forest into the flames in the brazier, which curled into sweet smelling smoke. Saladin was watching her curiously.

“Two Hunters, a Titan, and a Warlock,” Medjay reported to him. “Twenty-four civilians, mostly children.”

“Understood.” He looked at the guardians as Ammit came over to the group. “What news?”

“The City has fallen,” Ammit said, her helmet dissolving. “Red Legion are all over the wilds, fighting with the Fallen. I have heard nothing of the Vanguard or any from the Tower.” Her voice sounded strained. The other guardians nodded.

“Very well… I’m proud of all of you. You’ve saved a lot of lives. Get some rest. There are beds in the observatory, or you can rest here in the Temple, if you wish.”

The other guardians split off. Ammit rezzed her Ghost into her hands and nuzzled it lightly.

“We are safe now, Heru,” she murmured. The Ghost made a tired noise, tines drooping sadly.

“Thanks to you, Lord Felwinter,” Medjay said. Her voice was sly but she smiled when Ammit looked at her. “Doubt some of them would have made it if you weren’t keeping their minds off the hunger and cold.”

“Lord Felwinter?” Saladin asked.

“I borrowed his mantle,” Ammit said, tucking her Ghost into her scarf. “The children were frightened. They are not fools. They know guardians are hardly different than them without Light. They have grown up around guardians… but they were excited by the legends of the Iron Lords. You are heroes to them. Invincible. I thought if they had a legend to protect them, they would be brave.”

Saladin was quiet a moment, before nodding. “He would have been honored.”

**Author's Note:**

> and thus begins Ammit's running joke of pretending she's Felwinter reincarnate


End file.
